Electronic exchange that enables transferable control of orders positioned in an order queue

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for order inheritance and transfer. In one example, a user submits an order through a trading platform. The order is then added to an order queue for execution on an exchange. Once a trader has achieved a queue position, various examples allow the trader to indicate that the order is available for inheritance or transfer. Various display indicators may be used to notify other traders that the order and queue position are available. A new owner can be selected, such as by an electronic auction process at a centralized exchange, and order ownership can be transferred to the selected owner.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/052,779, filed Feb. 24, 2016, which claims priority to U.S.Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/120,284 filed Feb. 24, 2015, both ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties for allpurposes.

BACKGROUND

A financial market allows traders and entities to buy and sell (i.e.,trade) financial securities (e.g., stocks and bonds), commodities (e.g.,precious metals or agricultural goods), futures contracts, and otherinvestment products. Financial markets work by placing interested buyersand sellers in one “place” (e.g., an actual or electronic marketplace),thus making it easier for market participants to find each other. Atrader is a market participant who buys and sells financial instrumentssuch as stocks, bonds, commodities, options, currencies, andderivatives.

Traders generally follow different timelines for transacting within afinancial marketplace. Position/trend traders may stay in positions forover a few weeks, sometimes up to a year. Swing traders may holdpositions for a few days to a few weeks. Day traders may hold positionsthroughout a trading day (for periods that are sometimes as short as afew seconds or as long as a few hours) and finish the day with no openpositions. This form of trading requires the trader to be present infront of the computer when trading is occurring and to quickly reviewpotentially profitable transactions based on the market data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention will be described and explainedthrough the use of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a network-based environment in whichsome embodiments of the present invention may be utilized;

FIG. 2 illustrates various components and interactions in an orderinheritance system according to one or more embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 illustrates various components of a trading platform which may beused in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a set of operations for processingorder transfers in accordance with one or more embodiments of thepresent invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a set of operations for processingorders in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram illustrating various communications betweencomponents of a system supporting order inheritance functionality inaccordance with some embodiments of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a computer system with which someembodiments of the present invention may be utilized.

In the drawings, some components and/or operations may be separated intodifferent blocks or combined into a single block for the purposes ofdiscussion of some of the embodiments of the present invention.Moreover, while the invention is amenable to various modifications andalternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way ofexample in the drawings and are described in detail below. Theintention, however, is not to limit the invention to the particularembodiments described. On the contrary, the invention is intended tocover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling withinthe scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments of the present technology generally relate tofinancial trading. More specifically, some embodiments relate to systemsand methods that allow for a trading firm or an exchange to hand offorders to other traders. Many markets operate on a first-in first-out(“FIFO”) basis as a way to determine which participant gets filled firstat a given price. For example, a trader who enters a bid for 50contracts at a price of 90 at 10:00 a.m. will have priority over anotheruser who places a bid for 50 at a price of 90 at 10:01 a.m. If a sellerelects to sell 75 contracts at 90, then the first user will becompletely filled (assuming they were the first overall to enter anorder) and the second user will only get 25 contracts of their order for50 (and will now be first in queue for any other transactions at thatprice). As other users enter bids (or offers) at a price, priority queueposition can become extremely important. For example, if a user isfilled at a price first, the user has the knowledge and ability tointeract with other markets for hedging, speculating, or risk managementpurposes. Additionally, the user may be the only participant filled atthat price, likely achieving an optimal execution.

There may be times when a trader within a firm may decide that he or sheno longer desires that bid or offer at that specific price, or may haveto leave their desk and cannot leave a resting order in the marketwithout being physically present. This can be a problem with traditionalsystems, as there is currently no ability for that trader to hand offtheir order to another trader who could benefit from the position in thequeue. In some cases, depending on a given market's or exchange's rules,individuals who trade as a team may be able to control, and thereforetrade, another trader's orders if they are on the same team. However,these situations are limited severely by exchange rules and aregenerally not allowed across different accounts or entities. Incontrast, various embodiments provide for systems and methods with thecapability of an order inheritance or an order exchange that may not beallowed to cross different accounts and/or entities. As a result, atrader could make their order available for assumption by anothertrader.

For example, in first-in first-out (FIFO) markets, a trader who hasachieved an excellent queue position for a buy or sell order may decideto cancel that order. Some embodiments allow other traders (e.g., withina firm) to request that order. If the first trader cancels the order,the order then goes live in the requesting traders' order book. In someembodiments, an exchange can allow users to bid on the ability to use(i.e., inherit) an order in case that order is cancelled by its initialuser. Some embodiments provide various display mechanisms to assist inorder request/assignment process.

In accordance with various embodiments, a trader within a proprietarytrading firm could place an electronic tag on his soon-to-be-abandonedorder, which would then highlight that order to other traders within thefirm. Various methodologies could be used to determine how other traderscould elect to use that order; first to click on the order, prioritygiven to senior traders, priority given to those with a risk need tohedge, highest payer, etc. Some embodiments allow traders to bid onorders within a certain period of time, including prior to thenotification that the order is available. This bidding could consist ofa payment per contract with or without execution, fixed payments, profitshares, etc. Regardless of the methodology, the decision process wouldbe determined systematically and various display mechanisms can be usedto notify users that an order is available.

In accordance with various embodiments, the marketplace or exchangeitself could allow any user to bid on the ability to use an order in theevent that order is cancelled by the current “owner.” This mechanismwould provide benefits to the exchange and its users, in that a givenuser may not have to invest in prohibitively expensive co-location orhigh-speed telecom lines in order to always have queue position.Instead, such users (typically lower frequency users) could selectivelypay for queue position on demand. The various methodologies forallocating a given order would be similar to the trading firm examplementioned above.

In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of embodiments of the present invention. It will beapparent, however, to one skilled in the art that embodiments of thepresent invention may be practiced without some of these specificdetails. While, for convenience, embodiments of the present technologyare described with reference to financial instruments and exchanges,embodiments of the present technology are equally applicable to variousother electronic queue-based technologies where individuals may bewilling to pay for a place in the queue. For example, the techniquescould be extended to the electronic selling of sporting tickets whereseason ticket holders might have a queue priority for additional venueor sporting tickets such as playoff games. As another example, high-endluxury automobiles that have limited editions often establish apurchasing priority based on a number of factors (e.g., purchase and/orownership history). As such, the inheritance platform may be productagnostic and have a variety of product queues which can be maintained bythe inheritance platform via a common protocol.

Moreover, the techniques introduced here can be embodied asspecial-purpose hardware (e.g., circuitry), as programmable circuitryappropriately programmed with software and/or firmware, or as acombination of special-purpose and programmable circuitry. Hence,embodiments may include a machine-readable medium having stored thereoninstructions that may be used to program a computer (or other electronicdevices) to perform a process. The machine-readable medium may include,but is not limited to, floppy diskettes, optical discs, compact discread-only memories (CD-ROMs), magneto-optical discs, ROMs, random accessmemories (RAMs), erasable programmable read-only memories (EPROMs),electrically erasable programmable read-only memories (EEPROMs),application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), magnetic or opticalcards, flash memory, or other types of media/machine-readable mediumsuitable for storing electronic instructions.

The following applications are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentirety for all purposes: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/463,753entitled “METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR SHOWING PERSPECTIVE IN MARKET DATA”filed on May 3, 2012, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/837,945entitled “METHODS AND SYSTEM FOR SHOWING PERSPECTIVE IN MARKET DATA”filed on Mar. 15, 2013, and U.S. Patent Application No. 61/909,969entitled “PROVIDING GUARANTEED EXECUTION OF MARKET SPREADS” filed onNov. 27, 2013.

Terminology

Brief definitions of terms, abbreviations, and phrases used throughoutthis application are given below.

The phrases “in some embodiments,” “according to some embodiments,” “inthe embodiments shown,” “in other embodiments,” and the like generallymean the particular feature, structure, or characteristic following thephrase is included in at least one implementation of the presentinvention, and may be included in more than one implementation. Inaddition, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodimentsor different embodiments.

The term “module” or “engine” refers broadly to general orspecific-purpose hardware, software, or firmware (or any combinationthereof) components. Modules and engines are typically functionalcomponents that can generate useful data or other output using specifiedinput(s). A module or engine may or may not be self-contained. Dependingupon implementation-specific or other considerations, the modules orengines may be centralized or functionally distributed. An applicationprogram (also called an “application”) may include one or more modulesand/or engines, or a module and/or engine can include one or moreapplication programs.

General Description

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a network-based environment in whichsome embodiments of the present invention may be utilized. Theembodiments illustrated in FIG. 1 show user interfaces 110A-110N runningon computing devices 120A-120N. Computing devices 120A-120N can be anycomputing device capable of receiving user input as well as transmittingand/or receiving data via trading platform 130. Trading platform 130 canconnect via network 140 to electronic marketplace or financial market150 and inventory database 160. While only one trading platform 130,network 140, electronic marketplace 150, and inventory database 160 areillustrated in FIG. 1, other embodiments may include multiple tradingplatforms 130, networks 140, electronic marketplaces 150, and/orinventory databases 160.

In one embodiment, computing device 120A-120N may be a conventionalcomputer system (e.g., a desktop or laptop computer), a tablet computer,or a mobile device having computer functionality (e.g., a mobiletelephone or a smart-phone). Computing devices 120A-120N may beconfigured to communicate with trading platform 130. In someembodiments, computing devices 120A-120N can retrieve or submitinformation to trading platform 130 and run one or more applications forinteracting with a user. For example, computing devices 120A-120N canexecute a browser application or a customized client to enableinteraction between the computing devices 120A-120N and trading platform130.

Trading platform 130 may include one or more servers capable of allowingtraders to submit and manage orders (natural or synthetic) with anexchange or electronic marketplace 150. For example, trading platformmay allow a trader to submit orders for stocks, options, futurecontracts, commodity contracts, etc. Trading platform 130 can be used togenerate, manage, execute, distribute, and/or record trading and/oraccount data received from various sources (e.g., third-party dataproviders, financial institutions, etc.) through various interfaces. Insome embodiments, trading platform 130 can include various dataprocessing and analytic tools allowing users of the trading platform tomake better trading decisions.

Trading platform 130 may be a third-party service accessed by variousfinancial institutions or individuals. In some cases, a trading firm,individual or unaffiliated users, exchange members, and/or other groupsmay sign up for the service and submit and manage orders. In otherembodiments, trading platform 130 may be a private or restrictedplatform that is owned and operated by an individual (or private)financial institution and only allows access to members of a tradingfirm or group. Trading platform 130 may be a fee for service or providevarious membership levels offering different analysis features. Tradingplatform 130, in accordance with one or more embodiments, may allow atrading firm, an exchange, or other user of a marketplace to hand offtheir orders to other participants or trades, along with differentpricing mechanisms (e.g., auction, percentage of total price, fixed fee,pricing tiers based on user groups, pricing based on type of financialinstrument, and/or the like) for doing so.

Network 140 can include any combination of local area and/or wide areanetworks using both wired and wireless communication systems. In oneembodiment, network 140 uses standard communications technologies and/orprotocols. Thus, network 140 may include links using technologies suchas Ethernet, 802.11, worldwide interoperability for microwave access(WiMAX), 3G, 4G, CDMA, digital subscriber line (DSL), etc. Similarly,the networking protocols used on network 140 may include multiprotocollabel switching (MPLS), transmission control protocol/Internet protocol(TCP/IP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), hypertext transport protocol(HTTP), simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP) and file transfer protocol(FTP). Data exchanged over network 140 may be represented usingtechnologies and/or formats including hypertext markup language (HTML)or extensible markup language (XML). In addition, all or some links canbe encrypted using conventional encryption technologies such as securesockets layer (SSL), transport layer security (TLS), and InternetProtocol security (IPsec).

Inventory database 160 can store a variety of information that can beutilized by trading platform 130 and/or electronic marketplace 150(e.g., stock market, bond market, capital market, foreign exchangemarket, futures market, etc.). For example, inventory database 160 mayhave stored thereon trading and/or account data and information abouteach user such as, but not limited to, age, contact information, e-mailaddress, membership level, activity logs, trading logs, and otherinformation. In addition, order information such as, but is not limitedto, time received, time executed, identification of a financial product,order identifier, order type, quantity, financial market, restrictions,owner, routing information, current status, and the like may also bestored in inventory database 160. According to some embodiments, thesome of the data stored in inventory database 160 may include variousdata structures which can be used by trading platform 130, marketplace150, and/or other computer or device. The following is an example of onesuch a data structure:

Order ID Order Time Trader ID Firm ID Bid/Ask Price Quantity Product

While FIG. 1 shows embodiments with a centralized hub collocated withthe trading platform for posting, claiming, and processing the ordertransfers, other embodiments may be based on a peer-to-peer model wherethere would not be a central hub for the order posting, claiming, and/orprocessing. For example, in some embodiments, a small group of traders(or private institutions) could agree to interact on their discardedorders directly. Additionally, the traders could leave pre-setinstructions on each other's trading systems to automatically hand overorders meeting certain requirements—for example, User A couldautomatically receive any order in the front month crude oil contractthat is more than four ticks off the inside market, with any number ofother rules, conditions or economic considerations imposed by the traderto set the automatic transfer. These could be opaque to the orderplacer, so that the order placer is indifferent when canceling an orderand may not even know that the order was automatically assumed bysomeone in the order placer's peer network. In accordance with variousembodiments, the order placer could approve the initial permission forthe other user to configure automatic inheritance parameters. Otherembodiments may include a hybrid configuration of the central orderallocator and a peer-to-peer configuration.

A dynamic element to the order handling (hub, peer, or hybrid structure)may be present in some embodiments. For example, orders further off themarket may be held open for claiming for a longer period than thosecloser to the inside market, and these periods could overallincrease/decrease automatically based on market volatility specific toeach contract market and/or other factors.

FIG. 2 illustrates various components and interactions in an orderinheritance system according to one or more embodiments of the presentinvention. As illustrated in FIG. 2, user 210 can use graphical userinterface 220 to interact with trading platform 230 and order exchange240. User 210 can submit an order through trading platform 230 whichsubmits the order to the order queue 250 for execution on financialmarket 260. Once a trade has achieved a queue position, the trader mayuse GUI 220 to indicate that the order is available for inheritance ortransfer using order exchange 240.

In some embodiments, the availability of the order may be createdwithout any interaction from the current owner. For example, when atrader that originally placed the order cancels or modifies the order,the position change may be detected by order exchange 240 andautomatically added to trade list 270 where other traders may takeownership. Various display indicators may be used to notify other usersthat the order and queue position are available in trade list 270. Oncetransferred to the new user, the order ownership information can beupdated in transfer database 280 and in order queue 250. The type ofunderlying hardware hosting each of the components listed in FIG. 2, maybe optimized or selected based on the inherent latencies of financialmarket 260.

FIG. 3 illustrates various components of a trading platform 300 whichmay be used in accordance with various embodiments of the presentinvention. According to the embodiments shown in FIG. 3, tradingplatform 300 can include memory 305, one or more processors 310, ordermodule 315, prioritization module 320, offer module 325, notificationmodule 330, auction module 335, pricing module 340, transfer module 345,accounting module 350, tracking module 355, and graphical user interface(GUI) generation module 360. Other embodiments of the present inventionmay include some, all, or none of these modules and components alongwith other modules, applications, and/or components. Still yet, someembodiments may incorporate two or more of these modules and componentsinto a single module and/or associate a portion of the functionality ofone or more of these modules with a different module. For example, inone embodiment, transfer module 345 and accounting module 350 can becombined into a single module for coordinating and processing paymentsfor order transfers.

Memory 305 can be any device, mechanism, or populated data structureused for storing information. In accordance with some embodiments of thepresent invention, memory 305 can encompass any type of, but is notlimited to, volatile memory, nonvolatile memory and dynamic memory. Forexample, memory 305 can be any memory noted herein. In accordance withsome embodiments, memory 305 may include one or more disk drives, flashdrives, one or more databases, one or more tables, one or more files,local cache memories, processor cache memories, relational databases,flat databases, and/or the like. In addition, those of ordinary skill inthe art will appreciate many additional devices and techniques forstoring information which can be used as memory 305.

Memory 305 may be used to store instructions for running one or moreapplications or modules on application processor(s) 310. For example,memory 305 could be used in one or more embodiments to house all or someof the instructions needed to execute the functionality of order module315, prioritization module 320, offer module 325, notification module330, auction module 335, pricing module 340, transfer module 345,accounting module 350, tracking module 355, and/or GUI generation module360. The components may be collocated within or distributed acrosstrading platform 130 or electronic marketplace/financial market 150.

Order module 315 can be configured to receive orders from varioustrading interfaces (e.g., trading GUIs, algorithmic trading systems,etc.). The orders may be to buy or sell a position, along with all dataassociated with that position. In other cases, the order may be totransfer the position to a new owner. Still yet, in other cases, theorder may be to offer the position for transfer, including, e.g. a priceor other consideration to be offered for that position. The orderreceived may include a variety of order information needed by thesystems and system components to execute the order. The orderinformation may include, but is not limited to, time received, timeexecuted, identification of a financial product, tag 50 id, orderidentifier, order type, quantity, financial market, restrictions, owner,routing information, current status, and other information. For example,many exchanges use a tag 50 id to identify the individual operatorassociated with a particular trade in an order book. As a result, theorder may be directly changed within the order book of an exchange. Inother embodiments, order module 315 may track the ownership withoutnotifying the exchange of the change.

Order module 315 can add or remove orders to or from the order queue.Once an order is added to the order queue, processed, or updated (e.g.,canceled or transferred) additional order information may be associatedwith the order and the order information (e.g., metadata fields, logs,etc.) may be updated. For example, when an order is transferred from oneowner to another, the owner information may be updated (e.g., byupdating a tag 50 id and/or other identification information locally orat an exchange) and logs of all transactions maintained for possiblelater audit or analysis. In some embodiments, the owner information mayidentify all prior owners in addition to the current owner. Similarly,the current status may be updated to indicate the position has beentransferred. A queue position can be updated based on information fromthe order queue. Other information may be recorded such as the time ofthe transfer, price of the transfer, transfer terms (e.g., indicatingprofit sharing), and others.

Prioritization module 320 can be used to determine how to prioritizemultiple offers on a transfer that are received through offer module325. For example, offers may be prioritized based on a variety offactors, such as, first to click on the order or first to respond(time), priority given to those with a risk needed to be hedged, highestpayer, trader seniority, affiliations, account balances, number oftrades within a predetermined time period, order type, and/or otherfactors. Indeed, depending upon various factors such as the businessgoals of a firm, the prioritization module may implement complex rulesto appropriately handle multiple offers.

Notification module 330 can be used to generatenotifications/indications to other traders. In some embodiments, thenotifications may be published in tiers to various traders. For example,the orders may be published first to traders associated within a tradinggroup within a financial institution, then to every trader associatedwith the financial institution, then to other traders using the tradingplatform outside of the financial institution, and then broadcast to alltraders through the exchange. In some embodiments, time periods (staticor dynamic) may be associated with each level of publication beforepublication to the next level occurs. For example, each level may have astatic five minute time period. In this example, the orders could beinitially published first to traders associated within a trading groupwithin a financial institution, then five minutes later to every traderassociated with the financial institution, then five minutes later toother traders using the trading platform outside of the financialinstitution, and then broadcast to all traders through the exchange.Dynamic time periods may be adjusted based on a variety of factorsincluding indicia of urgency indicated by the original owner,indications of interest, time till market close, movement in the market,and other factors that could impact the order.

Auction module 335 can be used to manage an auction for the ordertransfers. Pricing module 340 can determine a price for the transfer. Inaccordance with various embodiments, the price may depend on a varietyof factors such as order position, order pricing, trader seniority,trader volume, position pricing, trader positions within the queue,affiliations, membership level, interest in the transfer, interest inthe underlying financial product, similar orders, exchange rates, and/orother factors. For example, a trader with a higher volume of traders mayreceive a lower price than a trader with a lower trade volume. Asanother example, a trader may pay for a transfer membership level thatprovides a discounted price or provides a fixed pricing structure.

Transfer module 345 manages the transfer of ownership from the firstowner to the second owner. Transfer module 345 can communicate withaccounting module 350 to ensure that all fees relating to the transferare collected. In some embodiments, the transfer pricing may include afixed portion and/or a variable portion. The variable portion may berelated (e.g., a percentage) to a total transaction cost or the profitmade by the second owner. Accounting module 350 tracks the transactioncosts and/or profit made by the second owner and ensures that the fixedportion and/or the variable portion of the pricing structure is properlyaccounted.

Tracking module 355 can be used to create log files that track who anorder came from, who the order was transferred to, ultimate resolutionof the order (e.g., filled, not filled, cancelled, subsequent transfer,etc.). These logs may be used by accounting module 350 to compute thepricing. In addition, these logs may be used by various reporting,tracking, auditing, and/or compliance systems. Tracking module 355 mayalso monitor order placement and cancellation profiles in an attempt toidentify traders that are placing orders without the intent of havingthem filled. Such a feature may be needed to ensure compliance withvarious governmental and/or exchange regulations.

For example, detection algorithms applied to the order cancellation andinheritance activity that could determine cancellationrates/percentages, cancellation trends, resting time for orders, etc.,so that flags, alerts, or reports could be generated to provide ananalysis of a trader's and a firm's order activity. If a trader iscanceling orders at a rate greater than those tolerated by exchanges orregulators, or “flashing” orders without the intent to have them filled,then such analytics could alert a firm's compliance personnel so thatthey could work to mitigate any suspicious activity. The alert, forexample, may be sent to compliance software running on a computingdevice associated with the compliance personnel. The compliance softwarecan be configured to directly access the database and retrieve(automatically or upon request) data stored in database, format the datafor analysis by the compliance personnel, and/or provide arecommendation with supporting documentation that the compliance officercan edit. The compliance software, in various embodiments, may presentone or more solutions or recommendations, interact with the tradingplatform to suspend trading or order inheritance privileges, set limitsto cancellation frequencies, as well as other features. In someembodiments, tracking module 355 may be monitoring activity (e.g., inreal or near real-time) and generate signals that cause the tradingplatform or marketplace to restrict privileges such as trading orinheritance options.

GUI generation module 360 can generate one or more GUI screens thatallow for interaction with a user of the mobile device. In at least oneembodiment, GUI generation module 360 generates a graphical userinterface allowing a user of the mobile device to set preferences,present reports, and/or otherwise receive or convey information to theuser.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a set of operations 400 forprocessing order transfers in accordance with one or more embodiments ofthe present invention. The operations illustrated in FIG. 4 can beperformed by various systems and components such as trading platform130, electronic marketplace 150, processor(s) 310, order module 315,notification module 330, pricing module 340, transfer module 345,tracking module 355, and/or other devices, systems, components, and/ormodules. As illustrated in FIG. 4, receiving operation 410 receives arequest to publish an order transfer offer so as to transfer an orderwith a position in an order queue from a first trader to a secondtrader.

Once received, the order transfer can then be published to one or moreother traders in publishing operation 420. In accordance with someembodiments, the trader can select (e.g., through a trading applicationor graphical user interface) individual traders, groups of traders,and/or all traders to which the order can be published. In otherembodiments, a trading platform (or exchange) can select which traders(e.g., groups of traders) will be offered the chance to request theorder be transferred to them. For example, the trading platform (orexchange) may use various selection criteria such as, but not limitedto, order position, order pricing, trader seniority, traderavailability, trader volume, position pricing, trader positions withinthe queue, affiliations, memberships, and/or other criteria. Theselection criteria may be set by the trader, trade group, tradingplatform, and/or the exchange.

The selected traders may be prioritized in some embodiments and given anamount of time to respond before opening up the offer to additionaltraders with lower priority levels. In some embodiments, there may be atiered publishing system where the orders are published to traderswithin specific tiers before the orders are published to traders in thenext lower tier. The price, cost, or fee for transferring the order maybe adjusted, in some embodiments, for each tier.

Upon reviewing the published orders, the traders can make a request oroffer on the orders. These requests or offers are then received duringreceiving operation 430. The offers are processed and a second trader isselected as the new owner of the order during transfer operation 440. Insome embodiments, there may be a minimum wait time to receive offerswhile in other embodiments the orders may be processed on a first comefirst served basis. An auction may be held (e.g., using auction module335) for the order. The ownership of the order is then recorded duringrecordation operation 450.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a set of operations 500 forprocessing orders in accordance with various embodiments of the presentinvention. The operations illustrated in FIG. 5 can be performed byvarious systems and components such as user interface 110A-110N,computing devices 120A-120N, trading platform 130, electronicmarketplace 150, processor(s) 310, order module 315, notification module330, transfer module 345, tracking module 355, and/or other devices,systems, components, and/or modules. As illustrated in FIG. 5,submission operation 510 allows a trader to submit an order into amarket queue. The order is added to the market queue at a particularposition and waits to be executed. In some embodiments, submissionoperation 510 may be automatically performed by a trading system runningautomated trading algorithms. The automated trading algorithms may alsobe able to automatically transfer or cancel the order based on detectionof various market conditions or trends.

Determination operation 520 determines if instructions have beenreceived to transfer or cancel the order. If determination operation 520determines that no instructions have been received, determinationoperation 520 branches to processing operation 530 where the order isprocessed in the market. If determination operation 520 determines thatinstructions have been received to transfer or cancel the order, thendetermination operation 520 branches to instruction operation 540. Ifinstruction operation 540 determines that a request to cancel the orderhas been submitted, then instruction operation 540 branches to canceloperation 550 where the order is canceled and removed from the orderqueue. If instruction operation 540 determines that a request totransfer the order has been submitted, then instruction operation 540branches to ownership operation 560 where a new owner is determined forthe order. Once a new owner has been determined transfer operation 570transfers the order to the new owner and the order is processed in themarket during processing operation 530.

For example, if the inside market of a futures contract traded on anelectronic exchange is 98.30 bid, 98.40 offered (0.10 per tick), TraderA may submit a buy order for 100 contracts@97.00 to exchange (13 ticksaway from inside market). The exchange receives the order and places theorder in order queue at 97.00. Further, assume that at the time of orderplacement, the order is 4th in queue (FIFO method), with the followingorders at 97.00 having priority: 25 lot, 25 lot, and 50 lot. Aftersubmission of trader A's order, the current state of queue is[25][25][50][100]. As time passes, the 1st 25 lot cancels, as does the50 lot, and a 30 lot order, a 200 lot order, and a 125 lot order aresubmitted. As a result, the current state of queue is [25][100 (TraderA's order)][30][200][125].

The inside market descends to 97.20 bid, 97.30 offered. Trader A's orderhas an increased probability of being filled if the market continues tofall. Trader A becomes busy trading other markets and does not want tofocus on this order, and has the option of either cancelling the orderwhich would be deleted from the exchange upon the exchange receiving thecancel message. However, no other trader in the firm could takeadvantage of trader A's excellent queue position if deleted. Dependingon the market, it can be very difficult to get filled due to low volume,low volatility etc. Only a certain number of contracts may trade at eachprice, so having a queue position that maximizes a trader's ability toget fills is important. As a result, Trader A may elect to notify othertraders within the firm (e.g., using IM, popup screen, flashing light at97.00 on their GUI, etc.) that an order is temporarily available.Traders can then elect to assume that order. As a result, a newlyassigned trader assumes the control or ownership of the order. Controlor ownership of the order does not mean that the order will be filled orthat any other action with respect to the order will be taken.Allocation of the order among multiple traders competing for it could beaccomplished by first to respond, seniority, willingness to pay apremium, pro rata, etc.

Various embodiments allow for this order at its existing queue positionto become available to other traders within the firm (or outside thefirm), providing the other traders with much better queue position (andtherefore probability of getting filled) than if they entered a neworder at the back of the queue. Assume that the order is allocated toTrader B; Trader B now controls the order and any fills on that orderwill be sent to Trader B. Trader B now has the option of cancelling theorder, waiting for the order to fill, and/or offering the order to othertraders.

In some embodiments, the transfer may be controlled at the exchange,instead of residing within a trading firm. In these embodiments, theexchange could utilize the various mechanisms listed above to transferorders to other market participants. The exchange market structure isbest positioned to charge a per-contract fee for assuming an order withoptimal queue position. One advantage of the transfer mechanism residingwith the exchange is that an exchange-implemented model of this systemwould decrease the need for some market participants to invest in costlyco-location services and other latency-minimizing software and hardwaresolutions, since the opportunity to assume an existing order mitigatesthe need to be quickest to a given price.

Some embodiments of the trading platform allow firms to assume variousmarket positions and create an auto hedging position. For example, ahouse repository may utilize automatic trading algorithms to accept someor all of the available orders and prepare an automatic hedge. If suchan order held by the house (before it is claimed by or allocated to atrader or account) is executed and filled, then some embodiments of thesystem could automatically place a hedging order, based on the firm'sanalytics or hedging protocols, in order to mitigate that position'srisk until the position is unwound or allocated to another trader. Anexample would be if the house held an order to buy 10-year Treasuryfutures that was executed, the trading system could automaticallyexecute a sale of the appropriate amount of 10-year Treasury cash bonds(or any number of securities or futures that the firm feels sufficientlyhedges their new position) to hedge the futures position.

The techniques disclosed herein may provide a variety of additionaltechnical benefits such as, but not limited to, increasing liquiditywithin the market. Since traders using embodiments of the presenttechnology can derive an economic benefit from resting orders within themarket, the traders are more likely to have actionable orders within anorder book. Such availability of orders results in more efficientmarkets thereby allowing all traders to benefit from the increasedliquidity and more efficient pricing. Moreover, electronic trading isexecuted using complex networks of computing equipment and software. Thespeed at which the trades are made, positions in the queue allocated andbroker accounts reconciled cannot be done by hand, and the coordinationrequired to handle multiple traders across many offices make itimpossible for this to be done manually. As a result, the techniques ofthe various embodiments are significantly more than an abstract ideas asthey do not simply implement traditional computer functions, but addressspecific challenges present in trading technology and are rooted inspecific improvements to trading technology.

FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram illustrating various communications betweencomponents of a system supporting order inheritance functionality inaccordance with some embodiments of the present invention. Asillustrated in FIG. 6, a trader places an order using a tradingplatform. The order is added to the order queue. At some point in timeafter the order is place, but while the order is still pending in theorder queue, the trader publishes that the order is available fortransfer. A temporary hold can be placed on the order in the order queueduring a transfer period (e.g., less than one minute). A publisherpublishes the order availability to other traders. Other traders canrequest a transfer and a transfer order can be sent to the order queuetransferring the order from the original owner to a second owner andreleasing the hold. If the order is processed through the electronicmarket, then the order is removed and an execution confirmation istransmitted from the electronic market to the trading platform.

Exemplary Computer System Overview

Aspects and implementations of the order inheritance and transfer systemof the disclosure have been described in the general context of varioussteps and operations. A variety of these steps and operations may beperformed by hardware components or may be embodied incomputer-executable instructions, which may be used to cause ageneral-purpose or special-purpose processor (e.g., in a computer,server, or other computing device) programmed with the instructions toperform the steps or operations. For example, the steps or operationsmay be performed by a combination of hardware, software, and/orfirmware.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an example machine representingthe computer systemization of the order inheritance and transfer system.The order inheritance and transfer system controller 700 may be incommunication with entities including one or more users 725 (e.g., humanand non-human users/traders), client/terminal devices 720 (e.g., devices120A-120N), user input devices 705, peripheral devices 710, an optionalco-processor device(s) (e.g., cryptographic processor devices) 715, andnetworks 730 (e.g., network 140). Users may engage with the controller700 via terminal devices 720 over networks 730.

Computers may employ central processing unit(s) (CPU) or processor(s)(hereinafter “processor”) to process information. Processors may includeprogrammable general-purpose or special-purpose microprocessors,programmable controllers, application-specific integrated circuits(ASICs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), embedded components,combination of such devices and the like. Processors execute programcomponents in response to user and/or system-generated requests. One ormore of these components may be implemented in software, hardware orboth hardware and software. Processors pass instructions (e.g.,operational and data instructions) to enable various operations.

The order inheritance and transfer controller 700 may include clock 765,CPU 770, memory such as read only memory (ROM) 785 and random accessmemory (RAM) 780 and co-processor 775 among others. These controllercomponents may be connected to a system bus 760, and through the systembus 760 to an interface bus 735. Further, user input devices 705,peripheral devices 710, co-processor devices 715, and the like, may beconnected through the interface bus 735 to the system bus 760. Theinterface bus 735 may be connected to a number of interface adapterssuch as processor interface 740, input output interfaces (I/O) 745,network interfaces 750, storage interfaces 755, and the like.

Processor interface 740 may facilitate communication betweenco-processor devices 715 and co-processor 775. In one implementation,processor interface 740 may expedite encryption and decryption ofrequests or data. Input output interfaces (I/O) 745 facilitatecommunication between user input devices 705, peripheral devices 710,co-processor devices 715, and/or the like and components of thecontroller 700 using protocols such as those for handling audio, data,video interface, wireless transceivers, or the like (e.g., Bluetooth,IEEE 1394a-b, serial, universal serial bus (USB), Digital VisualInterface (DVI), 702.11a/b/g/n/x, cellular, etc.). Network interfaces750 may be in communication with the network 730. Through the network730, the controller 700 may be accessible to remote terminal devices 720(e.g., client devices 180). Network interfaces 750 may use various wiredand wireless connection protocols such as, direct connect, Ethernet,wireless connection such as IEEE 702.11a-x, and the like.

Examples of network 730 include the Internet, Local Area Network (LAN),Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), wirelessnetwork (e.g., using Wireless Application Protocol WAP), a securedcustom connection, and the like. The network interfaces 750 can includea firewall which can, in some embodiments, govern and/or managepermission to access/proxy data in a computer network, and track varyinglevels of trust between different machines and/or applications. Thefirewall can be any number of modules having any combination of hardwareand/or software components able to enforce a predetermined set of accessrights between a particular set of machines and applications, machinesand machines, and/or applications and applications, for example, toregulate the flow of traffic and resource sharing between these varyingentities. The firewall may additionally manage and/or have access to anaccess control list which details permissions including, for example,the access and operation rights of an object by an individual, amachine, and/or an application, and the circumstances under which thepermission rights stand. Other network security functions performed orincluded in the functions of the firewall, can be, for example, but arenot limited to, intrusion prevention, intrusion detection,next-generation firewall, personal firewall, etc., without deviatingfrom the novel art of this disclosure.

Storage interfaces 755 may be in communication with a number of storagedevices such as storage devices 790, removable disc devices, and thelike. The storage interfaces 755 may use various connection protocolssuch as Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA), IEEE 1394,Ethernet, Universal Serial Bus (USB), and the like.

User input devices 705 and peripheral devices 710 may be connected toI/O interface 745 and potentially other interfaces, buses and/orcomponents. User input devices 705 may include card readers, fingerprint readers, joysticks, keyboards, microphones, mouse, remotecontrols, retina readers, touch screens, sensors, and/or the like.Peripheral devices 710 may include antenna, audio devices (e.g.,microphone, speakers, etc.), cameras, external processors, communicationdevices, radio frequency identifiers (RFIDs), scanners, printers,storage devices, transceivers, and/or the like. Co-processor devices 715may be connected to the controller 700 through interface bus 735, andmay include microcontrollers, processors, interfaces or other devices.

Computer executable instructions and data may be stored in memory (e.g.,registers, cache memory, random access memory, flash, etc.) which isaccessible by processors. These stored instruction codes (e.g.,programs) may engage the processor components, motherboard and/or othersystem components to perform desired operations. The controller 700 mayemploy various forms of memory including on-chip CPU memory (e.g.,registers), RAM 780, ROM 785, and storage devices 790. Storage devices790 may employ any number of tangible, non-transitory storage devices orsystems such as fixed or removable magnetic disk drive, an opticaldrive, solid state memory devices and other processor-readable storagemedia. Computer-executable instructions stored in the memory may includeone or more program modules such as routines, programs, objects,components, data structures, and so on that perform particular tasks orimplement particular abstract data types. For example, the memory maycontain operating system (OS) component 795, modules and othercomponents, database tables, and the like. These modules/components maybe stored and accessed from the storage devices, including from externalstorage devices accessible through an interface bus.

The database components can store programs executed by the processor toprocess the stored data. The database components may be implemented inthe form of a database that is relational, scalable and secure. Examplesof such database include DB2, MySQL, Oracle, Sybase, and the like.Alternatively, the database may be implemented using various standarddata-structures, such as an array, hash, list, struct, structured textfile (e.g., XML), table, and/or the like. Such data-structures may bestored in memory and/or in structured files.

The order inheritance and transfer system controller 700 may beimplemented in distributed computing environments, where tasks ormodules are performed by remote processing devices, which are linkedthrough a communications network, such as a Local Area Network (“LAN”),Wide Area Network (“WAN”), the Internet, and the like. In a distributedcomputing environment, program modules or subroutines may be located inboth local and remote memory storage devices. Distributed computing maybe employed to load balance and/or aggregate resources for processing.Alternatively, aspects of the controller 700 may be distributedelectronically over the Internet or over other networks (includingwireless networks). Those skilled in the relevant art will recognizethat portions of the order inheritance and transfer system may reside ona server computer, while corresponding portions reside on a clientcomputer. Data structures and transmission of data particular to aspectsof the order inheritance and transfer controller 700 are alsoencompassed within the scope of the invention.

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout thedescription and the claims, the words “comprise,” “comprising,” and thelike are to be construed in an inclusive sense, as opposed to anexclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in the sense of“including, but not limited to.” As used herein, the terms “connected,”“coupled,” or any variant thereof means any connection or coupling,either direct or indirect, between two or more elements; the coupling orconnection between the elements can be physical, logical, or acombination thereof. Additionally, the words “herein,” “above,” “below,”and words of similar import, when used in this application, refer tothis application as a whole and not to any particular portions of thisapplication. Where the context permits, words in the above DetailedDescription using the singular or plural number may also include theplural or singular number respectively. The word “or,” in reference to alist of two or more items, covers all of the following interpretationsof the word: any of the items in the list, all of the items in the list,and any combination of the items in the list.

The above Detailed Description of examples of the invention is notintended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise formdisclosed above. While specific examples for the invention are describedabove for illustrative purposes, various equivalent modifications arepossible within the scope of the invention, as those skilled in therelevant art will recognize. For example, while processes or blocks arepresented in a given order, alternative implementations may performroutines having steps, or employ systems having blocks, in a differentorder, and some processes or blocks may be deleted, moved, added,subdivided, combined, and/or modified to provide alternative orsub-combinations. Each of these processes or blocks may be implementedin a variety of different ways. Also, while processes or blocks are attimes shown as being performed in series, these processes or blocks mayinstead be performed or implemented in parallel, or may be performed atdifferent times. Furthermore, any specific numbers noted herein are onlyexamples: alternative implementations may employ differing values orranges.

The teachings of the invention provided herein can be applied to othersystems, not necessarily the system described above. The elements andacts of the various examples described above can be combined to providefurther implementations of the invention. Some alternativeimplementations of the invention may include not only additionalelements to those implementations noted above, but also may includefewer elements.

These and other changes can be made to the invention in light of theabove Detailed Description. While the above description describescertain examples of the invention, and describes the best modecontemplated, no matter how detailed the above appears in text, theinvention can be practiced in many ways. Details of the system may varyconsiderably in its specific implementation, while still beingencompassed by the invention disclosed herein. As noted above,particular terminology used when describing certain features or aspectsof the invention should not be taken to imply that the terminology isbeing redefined herein to be restricted to any specific characteristics,features, or aspects of the invention with which that terminology isassociated. In general, the terms used in the following claims shouldnot be construed to limit the invention to the specific examplesdisclosed in the specification, unless the above Detailed Descriptionsection explicitly defines such terms. Accordingly, the actual scope ofthe invention encompasses not only the disclosed examples, but also allequivalent ways of practicing or implementing the invention under theclaims.

To reduce the number of claims, certain aspects of the invention arepresented below in certain claim forms, but the applicant contemplatesthe various aspects of the invention in any number of claim forms. Forexample, while only one aspect of the invention is recited as acomputer-readable medium claim, other aspects may likewise be embodiedas a computer-readable medium claim, or in other forms, such as beingembodied in a means-plus-function claim. Any claims intended to betreated under 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) will begin with the words “means for”,but use of the term “for” in any other context is not intended to invoketreatment under 35 U.S.C. §112(f). Accordingly, the applicant reservesthe right to pursue additional claims after filing this application topursue such additional claim forms, in either this application or in acontinuing application.

What is claimed is:
 1. At least one computer-readable medium, excludingtransitory signals, carrying instructions configured to cause at leastone processor to perform operations comprising: receive, by a tradingplatform and at a first time, an electronic order from a computingdevice of a first trader; in response to receiving the electronic order,establish a position for the electronic order in an order queue, whereinthe established position is based at least in part on the first time,and wherein the order queue indicates the established position relativeto other electronic orders; store the established position for theelectronic order as an entry in a database, wherein the entry has a datastructure including an order identifier field, a trader identifierfield, and an established position field; receive, at a second timeafter the first time, an indication of an intent to abandon control ofthe electronic order in the established position of the order queue; inresponse to the intent to abandon control of the electronic order,associate an electronic tag with the electronic order, wherein theelectronic tag is associated with a time period during which anothertrader can assume control of the electronic order in the establishedposition of the order queue; communicate, to computing devices ofmultiple traders, notifications of the intent to abandon control of theelectronic order in the established position of the order queue;receive, within the time period, requests from two or more of themultiple traders to inherit control of the electronic order in theestablished position of the order queue; select, through an electronicauction process, a request of a second trader from among the multipletraders to transfer control of the electronic order from the firsttrader to the second trader at a centralized exchange, therebydecreasing a need for latency-minimizing software and hardware; inresponse to selecting the request to transfer control of the electronicorder: alert the second trader of acceptance of the request to transfercontrol of the electronic order; release, in the entry of the database,control of the electronic order from the first trader to the secondtrader by replacing a trader identifier of the first trader in thetrader identifier field with a trader identifier of the second trader;and preserve, in the entry of the database, an order identifier value inthe order identifier field and an established position value in theestablished position field such that the second trader inherits controlof the electronic order in the established position.
 2. The at least onecomputer-readable medium of claim 1: wherein the electronic orderincludes a bid or ask price and a quantity; and wherein the establishedposition for the electronic order is further based on the bid or askprice.
 3. The at least one computer-readable medium of claim 1, whereinselecting the request of the second trader from among the multipletraders is based on an order position, order price, trader seniority,trader volume, position pricing, trader position, affiliation,membership level, interest in the transfer, interest in an underlyingfinancial product, similar order, or exchange rate associated with themultiple traders, or any combination thereof.
 4. The at least onecomputer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein alerting the second traderof acceptance of the request to transfer control of the electronic orderincludes causing the at least one processor to generate a visualindicator on a trading application viewed by the second trader.
 5. Theat least one computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the operationsfurther comprise: receive a request of a third trader to transfercontrol of the electronic order from the second trader to the thirdtrader; and transfer control of the electronic order from the secondtrader to the third trader.
 6. The at least one computer-readable mediumof claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise: publish electronicorders on the order queue to the multiple traders; and communicateindications of interest in the electronic orders to owners of theelectronic orders.
 7. The at least one computer-readable medium of claim1, wherein the operations further comprise: track an evolution of theelectronic order after control has been transferred.
 8. Acomputer-implemented method performed by a trading platform, the methodcomprising: receiving, at a first time, an electronic order from acomputing device of a first trader; in response to receiving theelectronic order, establishing a position for the electronic order in anorder queue, wherein the established position is based at least in parton the first time, and wherein the order queue indicates the establishedposition relative to other electronic orders; storing the establishedposition for the electronic order as an entry in a database, wherein theentry has a data structure including an order identifier field, a traderidentifier field, and an established position field; receiving, at asecond time after the first time, an indication of an intent to abandoncontrol of the electronic order in the established position of the orderqueue; in response to the intent to abandon control of the electronicorder, associating an electronic tag with the electronic order, whereinthe electronic tag is associated with a time period during which anothertrader can assume control of the electronic order in the establishedposition of the order queue; communicating, to computing devices ofmultiple traders, notifications of the intent to abandon control of theelectronic order in the established position of the order queue;receiving, within the time period, requests from two or more of themultiple traders to inherit control of the electronic order in theestablished position of the order queue; selecting, through anelectronic auction process, a request of a second trader from among themultiple traders to transfer control of the electronic order from thefirst trader to the second trader at a centralized exchange, therebydecreasing a need for latency-minimizing software and hardware; inresponse to selecting the request to transfer control of the electronicorder: alerting the second trader of acceptance of the request totransfer control of the electronic order; releasing, in the entry of thedatabase, control of the electronic order from the first trader to thesecond trader by replacing a trader identifier of the first trader inthe trader identifier field with a trader identifier of the secondtrader; and preserving, in the entry of the database, an orderidentifier value in the order identifier field and an establishedposition value in the established position field such that the secondtrader inherits control of the electronic order in the establishedposition.
 9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8: wherein theelectronic order includes a bid or ask price and a quantity; and whereinthe established position for the electronic order is further based onthe bid or ask price.
 10. The computer-implemented method of claim 8,wherein selecting the request of the second trader from among themultiple traders is based on an order position, order price, traderseniority, trader volume, position pricing, trader position,affiliation, membership level, interest in the transfer, interest in anunderlying financial product, similar order, or exchange rate associatedwith the multiple traders, or any combination thereof.
 11. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein alerting the secondtrader of acceptance of the request to transfer control of theelectronic order includes generating a visual indicator on a tradingapplication viewed by the second trader.
 12. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 8, further comprising: receiving a request of a thirdtrader to transfer control of the electronic order from the secondtrader to the third trader; and transferring control of the electronicorder from the second trader to the third trader.
 13. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 8, further comprising: publishingelectronic orders on the order queue to the multiple traders; andcommunicating indications of interest in the electronic orders to ownersof the electronic orders.
 14. The computer-implemented method of claim8, further comprising: tracking an evolution of the electronic orderafter control has been transferred.
 15. A computing system associatedwith a trading platform, the computing system comprising: at least oneprocessor; and at least one memory carrying instructions that, whenexecuted by the at least one processor, cause the computing system toperform operations comprising: receive, by a trading platform and at afirst time, an electronic order from a computing device of a firsttrader; in response to receiving the electronic order, establish aposition for the electronic order in an order queue, wherein theestablished position is based at least in part on the first time, andwherein the order queue indicates the established position relative toother electronic orders; store the established position for theelectronic order as an entry in a database, wherein the entry has a datastructure including an order identifier field, a trader identifierfield, and an established position field; receive, at a second timeafter the first time, an indication of an intent to abandon control ofthe electronic order in the established position of the order queue; inresponse to the intent to abandon control of the electronic order,associate an electronic tag with the electronic order, wherein theelectronic tag is associated with a time period during which anothertrader can assume control of the electronic order in the establishedposition of the order queue; communicate, to computing devices ofmultiple traders, notifications of the intent to abandon control of theelectronic order in the established position of the order queue;receive, within the time period, requests from two or more of themultiple traders to inherit control of the electronic order in theestablished position of the order queue; select, through an electronicauction process, a request of a second trader from among the multipletraders to transfer control of the electronic order from the firsttrader to the second trader at a centralized exchange, therebydecreasing a need for latency-minimizing software and hardware; inresponse to selecting the request to transfer control of the electronicorder: alert the second trader of acceptance of the request to transfercontrol of the electronic order; release, in the entry of the database,control of the electronic order from the first trader to the secondtrader by replacing a trader identifier of the first trader in thetrader identifier field with a trader identifier of the second trader;and preserve, in the entry of the database, an order identifier value inthe order identifier field and an established position value in theestablished position field such that the second trader inherits controlof the electronic order in the established position.
 16. The computingsystem of claim 15: wherein the electronic order includes a bid or askprice and a quantity; and wherein the established position for theelectronic order is further based on the bid or ask price.
 17. Thecomputing system of claim 15, wherein selecting the request of thesecond trader from among the multiple traders is based on an orderposition, order price, trader seniority, trader volume, positionpricing, trader position, affiliation, membership level, interest in thetransfer, interest in an underlying financial product, similar order, orexchange rate associated with the multiple traders, or any combinationthereof.
 18. The computing system of claim 15, wherein alerting thesecond trader of acceptance of the request to transfer control of theelectronic order includes causing the at least one processor to generatea visual indicator on a trading application viewed by the second trader.19. The computing system of claim 15, wherein the operations furthercomprise: receive a request of a third trader to transfer control of theelectronic order from the second trader to the third trader; andtransfer control of the electronic order from the second trader to thethird trader.
 20. The computing system of claim 15, wherein theoperations further comprise: publish electronic orders on the orderqueue to the multiple traders; and communicate indications of interestin the electronic orders to owners of the electronic orders.